I've got a hard-on (OMG, TMI!) . . . how is this team any different than 2004? You've got a great GK and solid defense, decent def mid, great attacking mid, and others that can score! Show me the trophies . . . and small, cute animal pics . . . j/s
Arrieta in the last 6~8 yards is lethal. He already scored the same amount of goals he did in C'bus last season. And I believe he's 3 goals away from his total over the two years span in Ohio.
I just checked, - he scored 8 total in the last two years, but in 2012 he scored another 9 (still in C'bus). Anyway, he's a constant spine in the side for the other team.
Agree. This stood out in his first game in Philly. You can see he's cultured in his passing choices and technique. I also want to call out Dykstra. It's easy to forget him, and we'd mostly like to because of the CCL, but just about every game he's played since he's pulled a highlight reel save. Last night there were two.
Yeah, I'm pretty on-board this hype train. I think Halsti is pretty much as advertised and I'm pleased with how he looks so far. He can hold the ball under pressure, passes nicely, appears to have good and creative vision, and I think has enough defensive "bite" that Olsen won't bench him for "lethargy." He does give the ball away a couple times per half, which is worrying. Sometimes, I think it is because the person he is passing it to stands there ball watching, but other times I think he does make poor decisions. But hey, at least they tend to be overly aggressive poor decisions, so that's a nice change of pace, right? Without in anyway attempting to slight Arnaud and the solid shifts that he consistently play for DC, I think I want to see a lot more Halsti in his place. I think, in a lot of ways, that Halsti is exactly what this team needs - someone to pick a good pass to start a counter or keep the ball in transition. Speaking of Arnaud though, I really didn't like the Arnaud for Arrieta sub. Maybe it was because Olsen is going to need Arrieta to play more minutes come Saturday, but it looked to me like another time when DC was bossing the game, Olsen made a defensive sub, and the other team started getting more and better looks at goal. It wasn't too bad last night, although I do think true to some degree, but I think Olsen over-uses the defensive sub in general and sometimes makes for a frantic final 10-15 minutes of a half in which DC had been dominant before the sub. Take what I say with a grain of salt, though, because elsewhere I wrote that Espindola was just back from injury and hadn't played much this season, thus he would not be ready to take the team on his back. I was. . . what is that word? Oh yes, "wrong."
Actually, I thought the Arnaud sub was smart. DCU had enough goals to win and needed to keep pressure on Chicago to keep their attack disjointed. Arnaud ran around like a rat on crack up top, even defending in DCU's corner on one occasion. He knew he only needed to go for 15-20 minutes so he went flat out. He's not offensively inept either from his days playing outside midfield -- so if he gets a look at goal, he can score. In some ways this is a perfect role for an almost 35 year old player.
I was happy that BO figured out a way to have Halsti, Kitchen and Arnaud all on the field at the same time. I don't know how often we will see it, but if it is because we are protecting a lead, so much the better. I thought Halsti had a great game. He pretty much always makes a good pass and he is in the right position. Even on the yellow card for the tactical foul, the only reason he was out of position was because he slipped and fell down. I didn't see it live, but yes, WTF with that handling, Birnie? Needless to say, the game changed completely after Espy came in. You could feel that a goal was coming. Good game by Dykstra, too. I wonder what is up with all these unspecified injuries. You know it's a small crowd when, even with 3 goals, you don't get soaked in beer.
On a side note, am I correct on this?: In Chicago, Zach Thorton was replaced by Bush --> Bush replaced by Dykstra --> Dykstra replaced by Johnson --> and then recently Johnson replaced by Bush as Thorton/Dykstra bolster DCU. Last night we seemed to have 10 years of Chicago GKs in net or on the bench?
Let's not forget NDL! Shot on goal AND a brilliant exchange for Arrieta's second. More of that please.
also over the past few games, the old NDL habit of running into 3 defenders and being unposessed has been stompted out. If he continues to improve he will have to be the favorite for 2015 most improved player (or is that comeback player)
I think Arnaud did exactly what he was supposed to do and he does that pretty every time he takes the field. But I believe DC was only up by one goal when Arnaud came on and he was a defensive sub; I didn't think it went too poorly last night, but I sort of hissed at the time because sometimes I think Olsen undervalues keeping a team on their heels and when he goes to "protect a lead," I think a lot of the time it allows the other team to get their feet back under them. Unrelated: As much fun as that second half was, I think I am going to count it as an outlier for now. Yes, Espindola took the game by its scrotum and told it how things were going to be, but both he and DeLeon, who had one of his best games all season, were coming of an extended period of rest, whereas most of their teammates and opponents only had a couple days. So too, Halsti, to some extent. Which is sort of another thing to point out - Chicago collapsed in the second half playing a midweek game away from home - that's entirely understandable, if not predictable, especially if Yallop was looking toward their home game against a perhaps more vulnerable Orlando on the weekend. While it's not really my intention to diminish the good performances by a number of players (Arrieta, Doyle, DeLeon) who have underperformed for swaths of the season, I do worry that they may have stepped up as their opponents were stepping down and those same players will not look nearly as good against Toronto. But regardless, DC can only play the team in front of them, and they keep finding ways to win.
Actually a defender played that back to Arrieta, but the shot in the first half was on target (well set up by Halsti). I liked him on the left side, too. I guess he was there to help out with the defense, since we had a center back playing fullback. He had a good game.
I think NDL energy and defense keeps him in the lineup, but his shots in the box are awful. You do realize that it was the defenseman who miskicked the ball back to Arrieta for that second goal... ps-Funkfoot beat me to it!
Replay is dodgy, I can't tell if it comes off the defender's or DeLeon's foot. But, either way, there was an interchange with them, and it looked good to me.
OK, if I go frame by frame, then it looks that way, I concede the point. Nevertheless, right place, right time, intial pass to Arrieta from NDL.
...wonder if we can outsource all of NDL's last touches to the opposition defenders to our benefit....